Targets differ in Austintown, Boardman

Boardman respondents focused on eyesores in their neighborhoods. AUSTINTOWN -- Two suburbs, two quite different viewpoints. Neither Austintown nor Boardman, however, is immune from what its residents consider eyesores. Just one Austintown resident among the eight who took time to write mentioned a specific residential home. The rest of the beefs centered on public spaces, such as the look of old gas station lots, plazas and stores. One resident compiled a top 10 list, a la David Letterman. Among the selections: UOverabundant signs of any size, from billboards to garage sales. UHigh grass at highway entrances and exits, that even when cut is left to rot on the sidewalk. UUnkempt grass strips in front of businesses and road dirt that sometimes is piled over the curbs, many near truck stops. UThe disappearance of trees and wildlife to overdevelopment. Boardman: While businesses are packed into Boardman, too, its residents focus more on their own neighborhoods. Half the 15 people who wrote complained about individual homes. For example, a home on South Avenue near Lake Park Road has a weather-beaten garage, peeling roof, and a wooden fence falling down. A few wrote about public spaces, such as an old fruit stand on Shields Road near Lockwood Boulevard. Within days of those letters' being written, the eyesore was torn down.